How to Develop a Winning Proof of Concept (PoC) in 2025

Development

Digital Transformation

January 03, 2025

How to Develop a Winning Proof of Concept (PoC) in 2025

Planning is crucial for developing a successful digital product. It has long been known that without a successful plan, any idea is just that—an idea. That's where creating a proof of concept (PoC) comes into play. This is one of the most logical ways to illustrate that a particular strategy makes absolute business sense and can meet customer requirements.

The importance of this development process can be explained by the fact that in today's market conditions, launching a new product without first checking whether it has a chance of success can have negative consequences. This can result in significant financial losses, wasted time, and one of the worst indicators - a ruined reputation.

More than 65% of projects can fail due to a poorly developed proof of concept. That's why PoC development will significantly reduce the risks before creating and launching a product. A similar situation arises when new functionality and technologies are needed to test an existing business. The need for a proof of сoncept can arise systematically depending on the specifics of the customer experience and the goals for the scaling process, which are significantly related to the dynamic market and the specific niches to which the product is linked. Testing the basic functionality through proof of concept will guarantee a qualitative assessment of the product's feasibility and market demand. This will give you a foundation before you invest resources and time in the implementation process.

Proof of сoncept for product development. What do you need to know?

PoC aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a particular project before it is launched. This is not a mandatory stage of work, but its implementation at the early stages will allow you to assess the importance and relevance before investment processes. Similarly, there are different forms of proof of сoncept, with the main idea being that it should be cost-effective, fast, and without unnecessary resources.

The Artkai team can help your business mitigate potential risks at the early stages by creating a high-quality PoC. We guarantee to provide a strategic approach for your successful ideas. We can help with many stages and formats of proof of сoncept development services, including idea validation, MVP development, building a general project assessment, and creating a technical prototype and UI/UX and pitch decks for investors.

Importance and benefits of PoC in digital business

In practice, a proof of concept is designed to help solve specific issues and test the feasibility of an idea, functionality, or technology. Therefore, it will allow stakeholders, developers, and final decision-makers to gain important information about potential limitations, risks, and issues in implementing new complex technical specifications. It's also worth assessing which development stage best suits your needs. For this purpose, our team has prepared a study on which choice is better for business, PoC, MVP, or Prototype.

Some factors may indicate that your digital product needs proof of сoncept:

The product includes complex technical specifications, innovative approaches, and integrated advanced technologies. A proof of concept will give you a realistic view of whether certain new elements can be implemented before development.
Identify or mitigate technical risks, including integration with unfamiliar systems. Similarly, a proof of concept can show the real-world situation before addressing performance requirements.
Unproven ideas. PoC provides empirical evidence to help business stakeholders assess the investment potential.
If the product has limited resources, budget, or time constraints. A proof of concept will thus assess the reality of budget or time requirements. Because in the early stages, there may be potential obstacles that could affect the full-scale development of the product.

Also, it is essential to understand that the demo in the PoC is not intended to be a fully finished code in the form of a 100% optimized software solution. Because the main goal is to test the concept and its viability. As a rule, proof of concepts are developed quickly, focusing on essential aspects to explore and test the problem area, assess potential technical issues, and collect stakeholder valuable feedback.

A fully finished software solution requires a complex development process, a complete testing cycle, and high-quality architectural solutions. The value of proof of concept should be highlighted as a separate stage of work on a digital product.

Benefits of developing a PoC

1. Risk mitigation

This process is the minimization and identification of risks that may be associated with the implementation of a particular idea project idea. It can also be a methodology or technology at the initial stage of development. Technically untenable solutions can be a key factor that will halt further development.

For example, the Artkai team has recently redesigned an AI video surveillance platform. It is worth noting that the client company aimed to integrate AI into their existing platform. Before starting this costly work, our team suggested creating and using a proof of concept. After that, the team tested the new functionality and made a full-fledged product after a successful proof of concept. As a result, after a complete redesign of the system and enhanced AI functionality, the video surveillance platform turned into a bestseller based on feedback from hundreds of new customers.

So it’s always crucial to consider the technical aspects and start with PoC to mitigate the risks of the future development process. These technical aspects you need to consider include:

Performance analysis that helps assess how well a particular technology works under given conditions. This lets you determine whether a specific concept meets the speed requirements. Similarly, it is crucial to decide on the throughput, which tests how fast a system can process something per a particular unit of time, such as response time. Load Testing will help identify pain points, for example, when the application has 500+ users simultaneously.
Scalability assessment determines the ability of an application or system to work efficiently when expansion is planned. Depending on the type, there are horizontal and vertical scalability servers. Horizontal Scaling allows you to add new servers or nodes to distribute the load. Vertical Scaling is better suited for monolithic architectures when there are limitations related to the maximum capacity of the hardware.
Compatibility constraints are also an essential aspect of the process that determines risk mitigation. It includes compatibility with the environment, for example, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Also, if the product requires API integration, it is vital to check standards, data formats, and protocols, such as REST and GraphQL or JSON and XML.

2. Comprehensive assessment

To ensure an accurate cost and effort estimate, it is essential to comprehensively assess customer requirements, technology considerations, and development timelines. For this purpose, unique metrics are used to determine whether the PoC process is successful:

Requirements analysis with a detailed and complete description of the functions that the application must perform for example, user scenarios.
Non-functional requirements will determine compliance with the desired standards and security and reliability issues.
Complexity assessment is designed to evaluate the levels of cognitive complexity of the code and the complexity of algorithms, especially when assessing the need for integration with systems.
Scope estimation in proof of concept provides a hierarchy of WBS tasks to detail the module or function-level work and distributes requirements into small, manageable parts.

3. Proven and organically established market

Any business proposal must include a sufficient degree of market demand from users. According to Statista, lack of market demand and relevance is why digital products fail in their quest for success. 42% of businesses that fail to identify market needs fail to survive, while 19% of the failure rate is for those that have yet to research the competitive landscape.

Another important fact is that a friendly user experience (UX), defined in a cutting-edge business model, also impacts product success. As a result of a successful market check and PoC, you can see a clear picture of existing or potential problems and assess the competitor landscape based on the study of existing product features.

This approach provides an opportunity to implement a business model that will define:

The customer segment and its definition are two of the main parts of creating a proof of concept. Relevant methods for verifying the customer segment can be data analysis through A/B testing or focus group testing. Also, Customer Journey Mapping is used to visualize the user journey and identify the key points of working with the product. As a result of the successful use of these methods, the customer profile can be clearly emphasized by demographic, behavioral, and B2C or B2B characteristics.
Product value validation is carried out using the Value Proposition Canvas, which will identify product-customer relationships, the Kano Model to identify features that need to be addressed, and prototyping and testing. One of our projects, developing an EHR system for a medical institution, was an interesting challenge for Artkai specialists. Therefore, before launching the product, our team proposed making the main feature a PoC for presentation to investors. After that, the development continued to MVP. Ultimately, we created a complete product with optimized workflow, increased accuracy of patient data, interoperability between different institutions, and improved patient experience.

The ideal outcome of the value check should be a certain amount of features required for the release and future, clarity in terms of value for the customer, and a list of key features that can solve specific problems.

4. Building product confidence

Proof of concept builds confidence through certain internal technical parts, such as confirming market demand and technical validation to make it business feasible and subsequently successful when it comes to existing products and their modernization. In the PoC phase, technical validation of the concept can be realized by creating test environments and Proof of Technology (PoT) demonstrations to evaluate the technical feasibility through basic prototypes or modules. It is also essential to conduct Load/Stress Testing, which will reflect the main elements of the architecture.

Therefore, it is necessary to understand that confidence arises only through a specific algorithm of actions in digital software development companies. Confidence should also be built on the technical side, as transparent and clear communication indicates the team's confidence that it will work on the project. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to the methodologies used in the work, such as the Agile methodology with a clear definition of sprints and validation of results using Sprint Demos.

5. Strategic decision-making

When working on a proof of concept, you should rely on critical metrics, quantitative data, and valuable feedback to make informed strategic investment decisions. Likewise, a successful strategy requires user behavioral analytics and, at the proof of concept stage, Total Addressable Market and Serviceable Obtainable Market research, when this can be achieved in the initial steps. There are many benefits to be gained from a strategy, even in the early stages, such as complex data, refuting or confirming business ideas, and insight into future potential user feedback.

Creating a successful PoC: Key steps

1. Idea and concept

At this stage, developing an idea into a structured concept coupled with a clear set of goals and functionalities is only a matter. The development process should focus on identifying market demand, defining a strategy, and analyzing potential pain points.

Next, the Discovery Phase should be conducted with the client, including a brainstorming session with analytics to create a business concept. This is where Problem-Solution Fit should be used to identify problems to be solved. As a result, you can get a high-quality concept with the necessary documentation for future development.

2. Gathering requirements

In the context of proof of concept, this is the foundation for further development and validation of the concept. An experienced development team should formulate Business Requirements and technical specifications in detail, which will be used to demonstrate the idea's viability. Ideally, it is advisable to focus on a user-centric approach using stakeholder interviews, workshops, and requirement elicitation techniques to understand user needs fully.

The next part of the requirements gathering should be the formalization of functional requirements to focus on the core features that need to be tested; in particular, technical constraints should be considered if there are specific technology stacks or infrastructure limitations. At the end of collecting requirements in the proof of concept development, you need to define Acceptance Criteria to ensure that the successful PoC is assessed objectively. After that, you should create KPIs to measure performance.

3. Define the basic PoC approach

The basic approach may vary depending on the business context, the key task of the product, and the technical specifications. It is worth establishing what the customer expects from the product: new technologies, a new idea, or an updated product. Therefore, there may be several ways to implement a particular approach.

If the main core idea is on functional core proof, then you should use Clickable Wireframes or Low-Fidelity Prototypes to model the essential interaction with the system. On the other hand, if the primary vector is Technical Feasibility with the introduction of specific technologies, then the use of Proof of Technology with the justification of the ability of a particular technology to perform a specific task area becomes relevant.

4. Creating a prototype

Prototyping is the fastest and most visual way to test the value of a concept. In this case, it is worth implementing UX research to test interfaces and check for user needs. With the parallel use of A/B testing, Clickstream Data, and Heatmap Analysis, you can evaluate the interaction with the prototype and get analytics on interface bottlenecks and User Flow.

The importance of a High-Fidelity Prototype makes it possible to present the product to investors and stakeholders in a fairly close to real-life form. With the help of interactive mockups, you can display the main functions and visuals and see the logic of transitions. This will allow you to get UX/UI Insights and gather user feedback with valuable feedback for further important assessment.

5. Further development

At this stage, the engineering side of proof of concept is based on building an efficient development of the main components with a specific technology stack adapted to business requirements and the architectural side. One of the most effective methods is the Agile approach for iterative development. Further development includes creating MVP functionality with modularity at the initial stages. This will ensure the effective integration of key functions and lay a solid foundation for the product.

6. Testing and quality assurance

The comprehensive approach of this stage will provide a critical view and correlation of business goals with expectations. The testing process can include a sufficient number of methods, such as Functional Testing to check for the implementation of the main functions and Unit Testing for modular testing to isolate specific components, if necessary. API Testing becomes relevant when the PoC works with adjacent systems through integration interfaces.

A separate element is user acceptance testing when a stakeholder tests the proof of concept to verify that the functionality meets expectations. These processes can be supported by specific methodologies, PoC validation, PoC feasibility study and CI/CD, to ensure rapid reliability testing. If particular methods and approaches are followed, transparent metrics can be obtained, and the risk of loss can be mitigated. Completing the testing phase will enable the following stages of proof of concept and needs of the target audience.

7. Documentation

High-quality documentation and valuable feedback can provide a structured result and successful further digital product development. The Artkai team is guided by its many years of experience in creating convenient, understandable, and high-quality PoC documentation. When preparing documentation, start with a Technical Specification Document (TSD), where the leading technical indicators will be recorded, with proposed technical vectors and justified architectural solutions, guaranteeing transparency and quality.

High-quality documentation should also include details of System Design Diagrams, including Data Flow Diagrams (DFD), Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERD), and a description of High-Level Architecture (HLA). This will allow you to demonstrate how the components will be combined. The documentation should include a basic architecture with API Integration Points and Scalability Metrics. It is worth organizing the documentation so that it is fully adapted to the requirements of the digital product because adaptability plays a key role.

Working with a proof of concept development company can ensure that the documentation will align with the overall proof of concept plan and support the successful development goals of the PoC product development.

8. Presentation and feedback

The final stage of the presentation is intended to formulate and demonstrate the final product business feasibility and technical feasibility. It should be conducted in the format of a PoC Review Session, where the team will outline the results of the work blocks and their analytics and provide insights into the prospects of this process. It is important to note that the technical part will demonstrate the product's functional readiness and potential within the timeframes for project implementation. At the end of this stage, we expect a strategic discussion of the following steps, analysis of the Execution Roadmap, and project approval.

The proof of concept function is primarily about adapting to a specific business idea and request. Therefore, a software development company can implement its request as accurately as possible before investing. Unfortunately, a successful PoC will not always guarantee quick project success, as many mistakes can be made.

Pitfalls of Developing a proof of concept

Lack of resources. In other words, this can be due to an incorrectly defined budget, a lack of a suitable team, or an incorrectly allocated time frame.
Complexity of the scope. It's essential to keep the scope of the PoC product development within the boundaries so that the process doesn't grow too quickly from the concept stage to the actual process. Unnecessary complexity is created when there are no clearly defined goals and constraints. This can make the scope of the proof of concept unclear.
Unsuccessful iteration of findings. It's worth remembering that a proof of concept is not only about the validity of a concept but also about improving it. If the successful PoC is not built effectively, the product's success can be limited.
Poor documentation. If the documentation does not clearly outline specific deliverables, it can hinder further stages of product development. Such problems should be avoided, as the main focus and detail may be lost.
Accept the result of the proof of concept if it fails. It is essential to realize that if the results of the Proof of Concept show that the product has no chance of success, you should stop or return to this process again, but from a different angle and with new ideas and requests. Because if you ignore this process at the early stages, you can lose too much to gain.

Conclusions

The proof of concept development process can help you determine the relevance of your digital product and its advantages and disadvantages that can be minimized. This small investment has significant value, especially for product promotion and development, and can reduce the risk of failure and simplify many workflows. Proof of concept is one of the most relevant when using a small amount of time and resources.
As an end-to-end digital engineering partner for enterprises, our team can help business owners create a high-quality, innovative proof of concept. If you are wondering how to create a PoC for software development and you have any questions or suggestions, please get in touch with us.